Nuchal hump growth, things we can do

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Ruturaj

Ruturaj

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2011
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Seattle, WA
I created some notes on my facebook group about nuchal hump, wanted to get some ideas from here

The primary factor of nuchal hump size is genetics. The primary role of nuchal hump is sexual dimorphism.

RD shared this research paper


I am going to quote few things from it

The factors determining the presence and size of the nuchal hump are complex, but they tend to assure that maximum dimorphism occurs at the time of pair formation. A typical progression makes the point: a male with no nuchal hump is brought into the laboratory and put into a situation conducive to breeding.
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I am not sure about what all is included in 'situation conducive to breeding'. May be adding rocks or terra cotta pots for fish to let him make territory as in follows.

When kept in small groups, say two to seven fish, in aquaria of 100 to 400 1 capacity, there is almost continual fighting. This results in injury and ultimately the death of weaker individuals. There appear to be three factors contributing to this. First, the subordinate fish cannot move far enough away from the attacker, as it would in nature. Second, being confined to the same place, the fish tend to become territorial, which often leads to breeding, and thus they are not in the same behavioral set as schooling wild fish. Third, in small groups the dominant fish seems to sustain its attacks on selected individuals. Given that the fish must be held in aquaria, their damaging aggressiveness can be held in check in two ways: (1) There should be no objects on the bottom, such as terra cotta pots or large rocks, that the fish can use as a focal point of territorial activity; and (2) ideally, the aquarium should have no corners. In combination with this, but much more effective, the fish should be crowded, say one adult per 15 to 25 liters in a large aquarium. This technique works well, but with crowding one must manage the water chemistry with considerable care.
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Groups of males kept without females in large tanks regularly develop enormous nuchal humps that persist. The humps on such males often become grotesque, and far exceed anything seen in nature. The behavior of these males suggests that aggressive behavior might be involved in stimulating the development of the hump.
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Ozzie73 Ozzie73 and some member on the forum have also observed this behavior. Having another male in nearby tank affected the nuchal hump size in positive way. I think this is why "grooming techniques" (showing mirror to flowerhorn) works as well.

I saw people not recommending leaving the mirror 24x7 or having another fish with a clear divide as it would stress the fish or it would start ignoring the intruder.

Overall good health (result of a good diet and water quality) is also important, because a dying fish won't get a big hump.
 
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Ruturaj said:
I created some notes on my facebook group about nuchal hump, wanted to get some ideas from here

The primary factor of nuchal hump size is genetics. The primary role of nuchal hump is sexual dimorphism.

RD shared this research paper


I am going to quote few things from it



I am not sure about what all is included in 'situation conducive to breeding'. May be adding rocks or terra cotta pots for fish to let him make territory as in follows.





Ozzie73 Ozzie73 and some member on the forum have also observed this behavior. Having another male in nearby tank affected the nuchal hump size in positive way. I think this is why "grooming techniques" (showing mirror to flowerhorn) works as well.

I saw people not recommending leaving the mirror 24x7 or having another fish with a clear divide as it would stress the fish or it would start ignoring the intruder.

Overall good health (result of a good diet and water quality) is also important, because a dying fish won't get a big hump.
Click to expand...
I would have to agree that a mirror is a very good method, I use mine only about 2-3 hours a day at most and have even seen some growth in my female I use it on. This is a pic of the mirror I use, made it myself in highschool, and she seems to really like biting at her own reflection in it.

cameringo_20200203_230054.jpg
 
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JSpilo said:
I tried a mirror a couple of times; freaks my fish out. Think I even saw it pee a little ?

I don't like big humps anyway so, forget that noise.
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Lol, try mirror from little further, smaller fish would be easier target for him or a picture of another flowerhorn (I showed one on my phone). It will improve overall color as well.
 
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JSpilo said:
I tried a mirror a couple of times; freaks my fish out. Think I even saw it pee a little ?

I don't like big humps anyway so, forget that noise.
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Yeah I'm not too stressed about her kok growth. For me it's more or less to see her get all angry at her own reflection lol. Did wonders on her personality too. Used to be where if I walked up to the tank she would try to run and hide from me but ever since using the mirror she's up front 24/7 wigglin around begging for food. She even got a few new tank mates recently, just a few female kirbensis that were being a pain. Lol she'd love to eat em if it weren't for the fact they could swim circles around her.
 
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Well correction, she's got 2 tank mates now because she ate half of the 1 lol. Just got home to find 2.5 kirbs in the tank. O well they were problem fish for me anyways, they kept killing my angel fish.
 
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FINWIN said:
My female parrot Patch (avatar) gets a huge nuchal hump the week before she lays eggs. It disappears after she lays. Once she completely finishes it comes back, but smaller.
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Weird, never heard of a parrot with a kok. Got any pics of it? I'd love to see that it would look like. She the one in your profile pic or a different one?
 
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